Faults and Mishaps
by OakChaser
Summary: Sally, being the trouble magnet that she is, finds herself in the possession of a dangerous piece of parchment. Phoenix, always finds herself helping Sally get out of trouble, and their first year at Hogwarts is no exception. This time, with their friends' help, they learn more about themselves along the journey.
1. Problem 1 Staying Put

Sally loved everything about Diagon Alley, but today's visit was by far the most exciting because she was about to get everything she needed before she left to Hogwarts. Her eyes wandered from the Potage's Cauldron shop to Flourish and Blott's, then to Quality Quidditch Supplies. She was very giddy and found it difficult to focus on one thing at a time.

Her mother steered her firmly through the crowd, and she found herself being shoved into Madim Malkin's. Sally struggled to free herself from her mother's grip. She hated being marshaled and detested being told what to do. She squirmed every time her mother made another suggestion to Malkin, and involuntary jumped out of the poor woman's grip every time her magical meter tried to figure out her arm's length.

More than anything, Sally hated being in one place for too long.

"Sally Gemma Williams! Stay put, or Merlin help me I will ground you!"

Her mother threatened, but to no avail. Sally did not like being fussed over and she found that she was particularly freaked out by the self operating meter. The shop was also dingy, and the smell of cloth everywhere made her gag. Sally felt like she was suffocating.

Without thinking, she found herself hurtling towards the front of the shop and out.

"Sally! Come back here this instant young lady!" Her mother yelled.

Sally grinned to herself, proud to be elusive. She slowed down as she took a random turn and found herself walking along an unfamiliar road. The scenery had changed. The pavement looked dirtier, and the crowd seemed different. People were eyeing her in a nasty way. Something about them made her feel uneasy. She wished Phoenix, her best friend, was around. She was the one who always knew what to do.

She felt her shoulder being grasped. Startled, she jumped around, only to be faced by the ugliest witch she had ever seen. Her teeth were yellow and came out of her gums at different angles. Her skin was cracked around her lips, and her filthy, somehow, purple hair was standing on end.

The woman didn't speak; she drew in a wheezy breath that made Sally shudder. Sally twisted and turned, and managed to escape the witch's strong grip. She bolted to the nearest side street. It was a blocked.

She started shaking and her heart was beating so fast. She knelt behind a large garbage pile that reeked. She almost wished she was back at Malkin's.

Sally looked around frantically. She thought she saw something glimmer in the dark. She rubbed her eyes, feeling exhausted. Two bright yellow eyes were staring from the other end of the alley.

Sally backed away, her heart started to hammer in her chest again. She fled, and ran headlong into a door. It burst open and she toppled on the floor. Her nose started dripping blood, and she felt a small bump forming on her forehead. She got up, still shaking. Her pants were torn at the knees and her palms were scratched from trying to break her fall.

She looked around. She was in a... parchment shop?

It was a strange place, narrow, and rectangular. On both sides of the shop, there were only glass shelves covering the walls. On them were endless stacks of parchment. At the far end of the shop was a small black counter, and next to it what looked like a trapdoor.

Sally knew she had to get out, but it seemed like her legs were rooted to their place. She felt like she was going to cry from her own stupidity. Why couldn't she just stay put as her mother fussed over her?

She struggled to keep herself under control. She looked around, desperately trying to find something that would tell her how to get back to her mother.

To her left, on the lowest shelf, she spotted a small piece of parchment on top of a particularly large pile. Its edges looked torn and burnt. Something about it was peculiar.

Sally frowned; she could hear a faint woman's voice, whispering from the direction of that parchment. There was no one around. She dismissed the voice thinking she had hit her head too hard when she had fallen.

But then the voice grew louder, the woman was talking faster and it seemed like the source was getting nearer. She didn't know how, but she found herself crouching near the shelf, and in her hand she was clutching the small parchment tightly.

She shook her head. What was happening to her?

"You! Who are you?!" A man's voice brought Sally back to reality. The woman's voice vanished.

She looked around. A bald man with small, enraged black eyes, stood halfway through the trapdoor.

"How did you get here? What are you doing here?!" He asked as he hurriedly climbed out and closed the trapdoor.

She gaped at him.

"Out! Out! Filthy kid- trying to pry around!"

Sally found herself being shoved brutally out of the shop, and back again onto the scary streets. Next thing she knew, something came out of nowhere and crashed into her legs. She looked down; it was a small cat with fluffy black hair, and large yellow eyes. She reached down and grabbed it. It started thrashing around hysterically and managed to pierce its claws into one of Sally's arms. Sally yelled.

"Laila! Laila!" A tall, middle aged witch with wild brown hair, ran towards Sally, brandishing her wand.

Sally dropped the cat, and the witch pointed her wand and cried "Petrificus Totalus!"

The cat went rigid, halfway through jumping over a log, it fell with a thump.

"Thank you for finding her! She's- she's so much trouble!" The witch wheezed, as she tried to catch her breath. Sally was too shocked to reply.

"I'm Wendy," the witch said, then stopped and gasped. "Wait a minute! What's a kid like you doing in Knocktern Alley?!"

Sally frowned as realization finally downed at her.

"Are you mute? Let's get you out of here before you get into real trouble," said the witch, grabbing Sally by her scratched arm which was now burning with pain.

The witch grabbed the cat firmly with one hand, and started dragging Sally with the other. Sally didn't complain. She was glad she was getting out of the horrible place. She didn't realize she still had the piece of parchment in her fist.


	2. Problem 2 Oblivious

Chapter 2

It turned out that Wendy worked at the Magical Menagerie. It was a dingy and noisy shop with a foul smell. There were cages everywhere, and the occupants varied from exotic tropical lizards and tortoises with jewel shells to boring toads and rats.

Wendy locked Laila safely in a big cage on the counter. The cat started scratching at the lock and mewing.

"I will never let her out again! Too much trouble for her own good," said Wendy, eyeing the cat.

"It's not good to keep a cat in a cage like that, it'll get bored and restless," said Sally.

Wendy gave Sally a searching look. "Do you have a pet?"

"No."

"Well they are a big responsibility. Laila here is more trouble than a dragon," said Wendy tapping Laila's cage so that a water bowl appeared inside.

Instead of drinking from it, Laila tackled it so that it flipped the water splashed everywhere.

"See what I mean?" said Wendy, exasperated.

"If you can't handle her, and no one is buying her, can I take her?" asked Sally. She rummaged through her pockets then held out a fist of sickles. She didn't notice the crumpled piece of parchment that was among the coins.

Some toads in a cage nearby started croaking loudly, and a bird somewhere started chirping and moving restlessly in its cage.

"I don't think I have enough to buy her, but I can take good care of her," added Sally ignoring the sounds.

Laila, meanwhile, had gone quite and started looking between Wendy and Sally as if knowing they were talking about her.

Wendy grinned; the small girl was growing on her. The confidence emitting from her was very intriguing."You know for a girl who ended up in Knockturn alley, you sound too confident in your abilities of taking care of Laila," said Wendy, slightly grinning.

"I just know I can," said Sally looking at Laila who was also staring back. "I think I know how she thinks."

There was a sudden loud crash. They turned towards the source, which turned out to be a strange looking purple snake, making its way down some boxes which were falling from their shelves under its weight.

"Kami! How did you get out of your cage?" Wendy strode towards the snake and picked it up quickly.

There was another loud crash, this time it was coming from the back of the shop.

"What the-?" Wendy barely reached the back door, when all the animals and creatures in the shop started making noises at once. It sounded like they were all panicking. Some were trying to escape from their cages, some birds and rats were now flying around the room in a hysterical way.

Wendy's perplexed look was now replaced with one of mixed shock and panick, "what is going on here?!" She exclaimed, staring around for a second before remembering to take out her wand.

Sally clamped her hands over her ears as the noise grew louder.

"So can I take her?!" She yelled at Wendy over the mayhem, she figured she would use Wendy's distraction to talk her into giving her the cat. After all, Sally always wanted a pet, and her mom would never buy her one.

Wendy looked as if she was coming out of a trance, "huh?! Petrificus Totalus!" She yelled, but she only managed to hit one bird with her spell. An orange snail had managed to get across the room from its tank and was now chewing the hem of Wendy's robe. "Listen, Laila is not for sale, she was my cat for a while," she said hurriedly, as she tried to yank the robe from the large snail's mouth. "Will you please help, instead of just standing there?"

Sally looked dejected, as she stuffed her coins and the parchment back into her pocket. She looked around, and spotted a rag hanging over a cage in a corner of the shop. She took it and covered the snail with it, afraid that she would burn her hands. She pulled the snail away, and heard the robes tear.

Wendy cursed under her breath as a few black rats ran across the room and out of the door.

There was another loud ban, and Wendy looked horrified, standing in her place like her legs and and arms were tied. She had no idea what was happening, and what to do.

"Can I take her now?!" Yelled Sally again, feeling like she should seize her moment. She didn't know how to help the witch as she couldn't use her wand yet. The situation was getting out of control, and Sally's concentration was running haywire with all the noise and movement. It made her feel dizzy.

Sally wasn't sure whether Wendy's jerky movement was a sign of consent or if it was just the fight with one of the huge lizards to get back into its container. Sally just took Laila's cage and headed out, lad to be out of the mayhem.

"Hello Laila! I am your new owner, Sally Williams, and we are going to Hogwarts together," she said as if formally introducing herself to a stranger.

There were now loud bangs emitting from the shop, and some people around were finally noticing. One wizard peered inside curiously before running out with a burnt fringe yelling "Help! Someone! The Menagerie is falling apart!"

Sally felt a bit guilty at leaving Wendy, but what else could she, an eleven year old do?


	3. Problem 3 Pressure

Chapter 3

"So you want to tell me that you had nothing to do with what happened at the menagerie?" Phoenix asked.

"I did not! I swear on Merlin's beard and honor, all I did was talk that witch into giving me the cat, next thing I know the animals were going ballistic and the shop was falling apart," said Sally, slightly annoyed at her friends disbelieving tone.

After the fiasco at Diagon Alley Sally got into a lot of trouble with her mother, first for ending up in Knockturn Alley, then for being the prime suspect for the disaster caused at the menagerie, and third for taking Laila. Her mother was not taking the entire 'receiving the cat for free and the animals going crazy on their own accord' story. "Because judging from your shameful history, young lady, you are nowhere near innocent!" Her mother had yelled.

In the end, however, her mother didn't know what to do. The cat couldn't be returned since the manegerie was in shambles, and she didn't want to keep it at the house. Sally got to keep Laila, with a warning; that if anything would happen to it Sally would be responsible, and the consequences would be severe.

"There they are!" Phoenix yelled suddenly. She started pushing through the crowd of platform nine and three quarters to reach her brother Noah, who was standing with Sally's sister Skyla and two other boys. One of them had brown messy hair, brown eyes and a slight figure, Phoenix recognized him as James Potter. The other had red hair and a broad build, his name was Fred Weasley.

Those four were inseparable; they even spent the summer holidays at the Potter's house. Phoenix had missed her brother a lot and was glad to see him after a long time. As they came nearer, Phoenix heard some of their conversation.

"Oh grow up James, it's not like you've never seen snogging before," said Skyla, who sounded slightly bored.

"Yes but not Teddy! He's like my brother! And Victoire is like my sister! They grew up with each other!" James cried.

Fred was nodding vigorously in agreement, "And the old folks told him off for butting into their business."

"Oh there you are Phoenix!" Noah exclaimed, as he spotted his sister emerging from the crowd, "where is dad?"

"He couldn't come with us he had to go back to St Mungos's. There was an emergency," she said dismissively. She didn't want to think of her father, not today, but his last words were hanging over her like a noose, "don't let us down Phoenix. If you're mother were here she'd want you to be in Ravenclaw too! Remember that!"

"Well, never mind that now, wait till you see the castle! You will love it there," said Noah, to both Phoenix and Sally. He was used to their father being too busy at work.

"I just can't wait! Will you please let me join your prankster gang?" said Sally hopefully.

"Uh, that's not me, you've gotta ask James and Fred about that one. I have a reputation to maintain," said Noah, with a disapproving tone. Although Noah was a very popular person at Hogwarts, he was also a top mark student with a clean record. He aimed to become a prefect, something which their father always bragged about. He was also a chaser in Ravenclaw. James, Fred and Skyla, on the other hand were all in Gryffindor and were known for their indifference about any type of school rules.

"Is it true you made that menagerie in Diagon Alley blow up?" asked Fred.

"No way! It did not blow up the animals were just out of control," said Sally defensively.

"Oh come on Sally we all know you did it," said Skylla.

The great engine whistled signaling that it was time to leave.

"Skyla, quit telling lies! I had nothing to do with it!" Yelled Sally over the noisy crowd as people started rushing to the train and saying their goodbyes.

Skyla's and Sally's argument carried on well after they boarded the train and sat in their compartment, but the rest of the journey went on smoothly.

It wasn't until they put on their robes did Phoenix remember that the sorting ceremony was looming upon them. She dreaded it, because if she didn't get into Ravenclaw, her father would be very disappointed. She envied Sally for being so careless; she didn't care about what house she would end up in.

After the Wizarding War, the house rivalry became less potent than it used, and teachers and students were encouraged to show more cooperation. At least that's what Noah always told her. Phoenix's father did not buy any of it, however, he would always say "those are only words to keep the image of the school good, but we all know some houses are better than others."

Phoenix didn't really think her father was right, but she knew it was important to keep family traditions. So as she crossed the lake, sitting in the boat next to Sally and two other girls, all she could do was wish she would be sorted into Ravenclaw. She was in such a haze, and a complete nerve wreck, that she didn't even notice when they reached the castle.

Sally of course, had managed to make friends with the two other girls. Phoenix barely listened as Sally introduced them as Maribelle and Audi. They crossed the grounds and climbed the huge stairs leading to the great oak doors. Phoenix temporarily forgot her worry as she realized she was finally standing on the steps of Hogwarts. She was finally going to be a Hogwarts student.

A man with a round face, and big brown eyes emerged from the castle. He wore green robes and had a matching hat on. He was smiling fondly at them, "Good evening children, I am Professor Longbottom. I will be your Herbology Professor here at Hogwarts. Please follow me."

They scrambled after him, all staring wide eyed around. Phoenix felt her nervousness coming back, and the vastness of the castle made her feel worse.

"I will now escort you to the sorting ceremony, where you will each be sorted into a house. There are four houses in Hogwarts; Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflpuff. The house you get into will be like your family and home. Everything you do will reflect on its image in the form of house points. The house with the most points at the end of each year will win the house cup," explained Professor Longbottom, who was smiling as if oblivious to their uneasiness.

Phoenix tried to breathe slowly. She could feel her heart beating triple its normal rate as they filled into the great hall. She was fully aware of the entire school now focusing on them. She didn't register any of Sally's chatter. Even the hat's song seemed like a long speech to her. She desperately tried to keep the bile from rising too far up her throat.

"Now as I call each of your names, I want you to sit on the stool, to be sorted," said Professor Longbottom, jolting Phoenix back to reality.

"Amerton, John."

A burly looking boy stumbled to the front. Phoenix could tell that he was nervous. He sat on the stool and closed his eyes. Professor Longbottom dropped the hat on the boy's head.

"Ravenclaw!" The hat cried.

"What? He looks anything but a Ravenclaw," whispered Sally to Phoenix. Phoenix nodded. If that boy could be a Ravenclaw then she certainly can, she told herself.

"Alvord, Audi!"

The girl whom they sat with in the boat with went up in a more surely manner, and was quickly sorted into Ravenclaw as well. Phoenix decided to take that as a good omen.

Maribelle was happily sorted into Hufflpuff. Sorpius Malfoy's name was called next, and it was not surprising that he was sorted into Slytherin, although Phoenix thought she saw a fleeting look of disappointment in the boy's cold grey eyes.

"Potter, Albus!" There were some surprised gasps and a pregnant pause as a skinny boy with extremely messy black hair and remarkable green eyes stepped out of the crowd.

"No way! James' brother is in the same year as us," squeaked Sally in Phoenix's ear. Phoenix nodded vigorously. They didn't really know him, but if he was anything like his brother, it would be an interesting year.

He controls his nervousness very well, Phoenix noted, as he sat on the edge of the stool. The hat took a long while before it opened its mouth and yelled "Slytherin!"

No one clapped. Everyone was shocked, even the staff. Professor McGonecgal's lips were so thin they almost disappeared. Professor Flitwick hiccupped and Professor Longbottom squeaked. Phoenix felt sorry for Albus. She knew that if she wasn't sorted into Ravenclaw she would be feeling exactly like him, maybe the sorting hat could make mistakes after all.

Getting over his shock, Professor Longbottom straightened up and yelled the next name. "Panu, Narveer" and "Patil, Shaan" both got sorted into Gryffindor.

Slowly the number of first years shrunk. Right when Phoenix thought her name would never be called Professor Longbottom said, "Ryse, Phoenix".

Phoenix's throat went dry and her legs felt very heavy. She looked around at Sally who gave her an encouraging smile. She didn't know how she managed to get up the steps, or how the hat ended up on her head.

_I don't think you have a good idea about where your heart really belongs. _She heard a small voice in her head say. She knew it was the hat.

"What makes you think that?" She thought.

_You want to be in Ravenclaw when your heart is telling you to truly consider another house._

"No! I know I am a Ravenclaw."

_You will know that I am right about this one day._ "Gryffindor!" Phoenix heard the hat yell the final word. Or did she?

She could see Sally's face, surprised, but she was clapping enthusiastically. She looked over at the Ravenclaw table where her brother also looked shocked.


End file.
